company can't make staff on video surveillance, says court

Image Credits: Lionel Bonaventure / Getty Images

A telephone sales rep in the Netherlands has won an unfair dismissal court case against his former employer, US software company Chetu, after he was fired for refusing to spend his work day surveilled by his computer camera.

The employee of US-based IT company Chetu was awarded approximately 75,000 euros (£65,700) by the court.

In August, a man, in the Netherlands, was told to share his screen and leave his camera on while working.

After he declined, he was fired for "refusal to work" and "insubordination".

Chetu did not provide a statement to the court, nor did the company appear at the court hearing, the judgement says.

The court ruled on the case in September, but its findings were published this month and reported by the Netherlands Times.

The court quoted from the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms: “Video surveillance of an employee in the workplace, be it covert or not, must be considered as a considerable intrusion into the employee’s private life.”